Death Wears a Black Mask
by Automatonation
Summary: Oneshot. After a catastrophic encounter with unknown enemies, five Toa Nuva cross an endless desert, nursing their wounds and mourning the loss of the sixth.


AN: I do not own Bionicle, LEGO does.

I wrote this story three or four years ago, in a very dark period of my life. It is set in an AU, immediately after the encounter with the Piraka.

Death Wears a Black Mask

Five shattered figures limped through a bleak desert, sand stretching as far as their eyes could see, the cruel sun beating down on them, each shimmering beam of heat seeming to almost be a physical blow. In the lead, his dusty protodermis armor glinting wearily, was Tahu Nuva, no longer the proud lord of flame, now simply a weary, defeated traveler longing for shade. Even with his control over fire he felt the scorching heat, and longed for respite. His red Hau, a large scar crossing diagonally across his patched left eye and mouth, looked briefly skyward at the circling scavenger birds, then down again, hiding his one eye from the searing light.

Behind him staggered Lewa Nuva, dusty, weary, cradling his left arm, severed at the elbow, with his right. There were countless scars creasing his armor and skin, and his eyes held a haunted, harrowed, frightened look. His mask was grungier than the rest of him, with loose flakes of rust speckled on the top, a result of a bad encounter with a stage seven Kraata.

Pohatu and Onua staggered along side by side, Onua supporting Pohatu on his hunched shoulder. Pohatu, once the mighty patron of Koli, could play no more. His right leg was severed at the hip, and he was also missing three fingers on his left hand. Onua was the most intact of the Toa, with only a ragged diagonal scar across his back from a thrown weapon. He stumbled, exhausted, but kept his footing. The incredibly bright furnace in the sky hurt his eyes, and he longed for the cool, damp, dark caverns he sensed in the earth. But he couldn't rest. They had a duty. He had a duty to his friends. If he hid from the blinding sun, how could they continue without him?

Kopaka, silent as always, walked slowly, haltingly, trembling, affected most by the tremendous heat. He was covered in rough scars. The light glinted off the broken lens of his Akaku. Kopaka carried the shattered remains of his shield in a bag across his back. It felt so heavy, so oppressive, and he wished that he could leave it behind, but he just couldn't. His body too was scarred, missing several fingers, and the front half of his left foot.

The weight of the bag and the cruelty of the malicious sun, however, were not as oppressive as the burden carried in the heart of each of the Toa. For the final member of their team, Gali Nuva, the life of their unity, the glue that held them all together, was gone, left behind them, buried with care in the shore by the waters that she loved. She had succumbed to their enemies, unnamed beings of mighty power that had ambushed them after the conclusion of their quest. Each Toa felt that her death was directly because of his negligence, and even though she had departed this world in battle, defending her comrades, they all wished that they could have gone in her place.

Finally, unable to walk another step, Kopaka collapsed, shaking, to the hot sand. Hot drops of sweat trickled down his brow, drops that never would have existed under normal conditions. Tahu heard the impact and glanced back, then sighed as he viewed the sprawled Toa. "Let's stop for a few hours, or at least until this bloody, Kharzani-cursed sun goes down. We can continue at night, when it'll be cooler. Onua, can you set Pohatu down and make us some shelter?"

Onua nodded weary consent, and then gently laid his friend down on the hot sand. He spat on his hands, and then withdrew his twin quakebreakers from their sheaths on his back. Activating them, he soon dug a cave deep enough under the earth to be comfortable cool. As he dug, it occurred to him that is wasn't really his fault that Gali had died. He was doing his best to defend Pohatu, who had just fallen to the creatures, when her life had been snuffed by a well thrown blade. Tahu, on the other hand, was viciously fighting the leader when she died, unmolested by any other. He could have saved her, but didn't because of his pride!

And Lewa…Lewa had been fighting for the creatures, infected by the spawn of Makuta. Onua had saved him again, knocking his mask off in the midst of battle, and scrubbing it with sand for hours. _Lewa needs to be more careful_, he thought. _That's what, three times that I've saved him from mind control?_

Kopaka's actions were irritating too. He had seen Gali's plight, glanced at Tahu fighting the leader of their enemies, and then returned to his battle against two. Onua, his mind clouded by fatigue, became incensed at Kopaka for not aiding his sister. Obviously, he had considered it likely that Tahu would aid her, but he had not made an effort, and that was unforgivable.

Swiftly growing infuriated by the thought of all his friends not helping to save his sister, Onua's mind, tortured by pain inside and out, finally buckled, snapped by the forces that contorted it. Onua finished the cave, believing that perhaps it would be better to do what he had to in the shade.

He clambered out of the cave, and helped carry Kopaka and Pohatu inside it. There, Tahu lit a fire with some wood that Onua had found buried in the sand. They all sat and watched the flames for a long time, until Onua finally spoke.

"It was your fault." His simple statement shocked his teammates into staring at him for a long time. "Tahu, you could have saved her. You could have let their leader get away. You were only fighting one. You could have stopped them. You killed her by proxy."

Tahu sputtered indignantly, but Onua cut him off with a wave of one massive clawed hand. "Kopaka, you killed her too. When you saw she was in danger, you looked to Tahu, thinking he would be a leader and save her. After all, he was only fighting one, and you were fighting two… it was only _logical_ to let the one doing the least work take up the slack. What happened to your precious independence?"

Kopaka attempted to give an icy glare, but failed, unable to focus long enough. Onua turned to Lewa, his voice filled with scorn. "And you… you fought, you fought hard, but you forgot which side you were on. Once again, you go rushing into a situation and get your brain taken over, and _I_ have to save you. Where would you be if I didn't? Still serving the swarm, locked out of your body by the Queens? Would you be happily enslaving your villagers in a hive? Would it have been you that killed your sister with that thrown spear? Next time, you disinfect yourself."

Lewa curled up into a ball and sobbed, but, ignoring him, Onua focused his attention on Tahu again. This time, he lashed out, grabbing Tahu around the throat with one massive fist, the spade-like fingers squeezing tightly on his windpipe. Tahu scrabbled frantically, but was unable to budge the manic strength given to Onua by his rage. "Tahu!" Onua roared, spittle flying. "You murdered our sister! What would she have us do with the one who destroyed her life? Are you trying to kill us too, leading us through this desert? What would Gali have us do?"

Kopaka staggered to his feet. "Stop," he said, struggling to speak. "We should preserve our unity. That is what Gali would have wanted." His legs collapsed under him again, and something happened that had never happened before. "Please, stop this Onua, I beg you," Kopaka pleaded. "Stop this madness."

Onua shook Tahu hard, and began to yell even louder, so that the roof of the cave trembled in sympathy. "GALI WOULD HAVE WANTED HER DEATH AVENGED! GALI WOULD HAVE WANTED THE SCUM THAT KILLED HER SLAIN! I WILL AVENGE GALI!" He brought Tahu's face right up to his and growled, in a tone that Tahu could hear, "Tell Kharzani that I sent you." And with that, Onua grabbed Tahu's head and twisted it hard. Tahu's eyes went abruptly dim, and he began to thrash, kicking lifelessly in a dance of death.

Lewa leapt up, shouting. "Onua! Why? He didn't kill her!" He drew his remaining Air Katana with his right hand and brandished it weakly at Onua. Onua grinned and drew his quakebreakers, the spinning blades creating an ominous hum.

"He killed her through inaction, but you, you were fighting on their side. You deserve to die as much as he did." Onua swung his weapons as he spoke, slashing through Lewa's upper arm and torso, creating a high-pitched scream that was soon cut off in death. Onua's back felt a small chill, and turning, he noticed Kopaka pointing his ice blade at him.

"You too? Are you all traitors?" Onua roared, dropping his quakebreakers and swinging his fists. One fist connected squarely with Kopaka's chin, knocking him unconscious and sending him spinning. The other fist snapped Kopaka's spine in half.

Pohatu's voice rang out through the cave. "Onua, it's all our faults, and none of our faults. We were all unable to stop her death, but none of us caused it. Please, stop. Would she have wanted you to kill her brothers?" Onua looked up, momentarily puzzled.

"She…she…she would have wanted her death avenged…on those who caused it."

"Then avenge it on the Makuta, those beings that controlled our enemies, controlled the ones that killed our sister. Don't avenge her death on the innocent." Pohatu's words, nearly breaking through the haze of madness in Onua, were to kill him.

"INNOCENT! They were not innocent!" Onua's claws tore through Pohatu's weakened armor and ripped his heart out of his chest, silvery blood splashing all over Onua.

He sat down, subdued by the absence of voices. Gazing dumbly at the blood of his best friend on his hands, he slowly began to realize what he had done. In the silence, he heard a muted slithering noise. Looking towards it, he saw a Kraata, one that would power a Kurahk, and he knew what he had done, and why. Onua threw a rock, smashing the Kraata, and the haze faded from his mind. He ran, sobbing, out of the cave, and threw himself towards the setting sun, the direction from which they had come. He prayed, prayed to Mata Nui for forgiveness, prayed to Gali and his now-departed brothers for understanding, and prayed to Kharzani for judgment and punishment for his deeds.

Opening his eyes, he saw in the last light of the setting sun, a slim, blue figure slowly stumbling towards him.


End file.
